Yuletide Cheer
by dellykins
Summary: Christmas in Autobot City. Mikaela is determined to have a traditional Christmas. Pursuit-verse.


Title: Yule-tide Cheer  
>Verse:Multi-continuity Alternative universe<br>Series: Pursuit  
>Rating: K<br>Warnings: None.  
>Pairings: BarricadeMikaela  
>Summary: Barricade's first Christmas.<br>Note: prompt:First Christmas courtesy of themadterran.

* * *

><p>Mikaela grinned her arms full of boxes. She sat them down carefully on the couch and waited for Bumblebee to cart in the largest box of all.<p>

"What are you doing?" Barricade rumbled, watching as Sam came in, burdened with a stack of boxes nearly as tall as he was. "Better yet, what is going on?" He raised a brow-plate giving Mikaela a questioning look.

"We."Mikaela said dramatically, "Are getting ready to decorate for Christmas."

"Crimmus...what?" Barricade watched as Mikaela began to open boxes. The big one came first. She pulled out greenery.

Mikaela grinned, "It is a holiday, of course. Mostly Christian...the religion you know. But it's much older than that. We put up a tree, decorate it and on Christmas we open gifts. It's a time to be with those you love."

"And then there is the mistletoe!" Sam added, laughing.

Barricade shook his head. Earthlings had the oldest traditions.

He sat back and watched at Sam and Mikaela started putting together what looked like a tree. He tried to work through he processor why they would have a fake tree, but he really didn't want to know enough to ask. He was sure Mikaela would launch into another confusing explanation.

"So...what do you want me to do?" He finally asked, venting heavily.

"Oh, help Bee hang up the garland." Mikaela smiled, "and the mistletoe." She looked thoughtful. "I bought some holly as well. It might look nice up front."

Barricade hmm'd and looked to Bumblebee, who just looked amused. "As you wish, sweet spark."

He vented again and accessed the Internet again to research the season his beloved was suddenly obsessed with. He was horrified with what he found. It was a confusing cacophony of information about someone named Jesus Christ, Saturnaturnalia, and Yule Logs. Saint Nicholaus and some dodgy character named Santa Claus who left coal for children. He wasn't sure WHY coal was left, but it played in there somewhere. There was millions of pictures of lights. The humans seemed to string them everywhere. On houses, on fences, in trees, practically anything that could hold strings of lights could and did. It was an assault on the optics, and not always a good one.

And the videos he found most disturbing. He shared the choice ones with Bee. However, the one about the green guy with too small a heart. He did enjoy it until he got all soft at the end.

He hung the garlands with Bee in silence, optics widening at the sheer amount. It was like Creation Day, Mid-vorn, and a red and green riot all rolled into one. It made his optics hurt.

Bumblebee laughed, and sorted through his files, finding a series of images from their youth. He sent them over to to Barricade in a data burst. Most of them were of Bee and Barricade as mechlings. Some from Mid-vorns festivals in Cybertron. Them walking the gaily decorated through-ways. One of Barricade eating an energon treat and making a horrid face. A whole group from their creation day, which were close enough they were celebrated together more often than not. His favourite was one of both of them tearing into their creation-day presents. From what he could see the human holidays were not so different than this, and at the same time vastly different all the same with their strange traditions. Some of it seemed to be down-right barrbaric...like the whole tree thing.

He wondered about the present deal. He wondered what the should get her. What would she want?

OoOoOo

Mikaela seemed to have a sixth-sense and caught him every time he stepped under the mistletoe. She was, honestly good at catching everyone, from Sam to Sideswipe. Barricade had sent the later a death-stare. Mikaela only grinned cheekily, and silently planned her next line of attack.

Barricade could feel the anticipation roll off of her and could not help but chuckled at her antics.

OoOoOo

Barricade walked through the packed mall beside Bumblebee in their holoforms. There were so many fleshlings, he thought his processor was going to explode. He looked about distractedly, there was just too much. Too many smells, colors, too much light, and the crowd was much to thick. He let Bee pull him along and chanted a little mantra in his head. _This is for Mikaela. For Mikaela. For Mikaela. _

"So...what are we looking for?" Bee asked, more at ease in the crowd then Barricade ever thought he would be.

"Well, jewelry for Mikaela at least, and a few other gifts. I suppose I should look around for something that would catch my eye. She also mentioned wanting a yule log...I guess it's food. Who knew."

Bee laughed. "Right, lets get to it then." He was still warbling on what to get Sam in any case.

In the end they left the mall burden with nearly more packages than they could carry. Barricade, however, looked increasingly smug about it. He had to chuckle everytime he returned to his body in holoform to pack up his trunk. He'd have to remember to unpack before transforming later, otherwise...

OoOoOo

Mikaela curled up on the couch, the lights out, except the glowing twinkle-lights of the tree. The tree glowed bright white. Barricade couldn't help but smile himself. Mikalea was happy, how could he not be as well?

Presents loomed about the tree, their brightly rapped facades hidden in the darkness. Not a few of which Barricade had placed under the tree himself. He was oddly giddy about the thought of Mikaela opening them. He hoped they were up to her expectations. Bee, at least, had said they were thoughtful.

Mikaela smiled in the dark, "This is perfect." She had always wanted a traditional Christmas. Her own family's yule-tide celebrations had tended towards disasters at best, non-existent, at worse. It made her heart feel warm to have the tree spread out before her with all of the lights and trimmings, each light twinkling like the stars up in the heavens.

OoOoOo

She helped supervise the decorations in the recreation room, decking the hall with red ribbons and a towering pine tree. This one real, much to Hound's protestation. For the most part the Autobots took the festive cheer in stride, and if they didn't Mikaela made sure they eventually fell into line.

Optimus agreed, eventually, it would be good for morale. This was there home now, as good as, it wouldn't be a bad thing to adopt some culture. That is to say, he finally agreed after she continually pestered him about it. She had pointed out that it would be a good way for the bots to bond with the NEST soldiers. They all wanted to strengthen those bonds.

She looked at him through narrow eyes, "What is it going to hurt, really? You are always saying you want to know more about our culture. This is the perfect chance, big guy."

The Prime looked at her for a long moment, "As you wish, Mikaela. We will celebrate your holiday season."

Mikaela let out a little whoop and went to work.

Christmas music blared through the room, and within days there was a mass of presents waiting under this tree as well. Stockings hung across the wall, each of their names carefully stitched across the top of the sock in red and silver. Mirage's stitching was achingly precise.

Hound had gathered more garlands, berries and pine-cones. he left them draped above the doorways and arches of the recreation building.

Sunstreaker painted festive pictures, and Sideswipe hung them through the building. They all helped to decorate the towering tree with an endearing, at least to Mikaela, amount of home-made ornament, strings of garland and cranberries.

There was not an Autobot that did not pitch in.

OoOoOo

Christmas day rang-out bright and clear. Everyone gathered in the recreation building. There was turkey, home-made noodles, lasagna, ham, roast pork, fried gator, green bean casserole, fried plantains, collard greens, and pies of every sort imaginable for the human denizens of all sorts and cultures in Autobot City. Ratchet's special high-grade was broken out for the bots. As well as Private Logan's batch of hooch for many of the humans.

They feasted, told stories. The humans heard all sorts of stories about Autobot traditions as well.

Even Sam's mom and dad ventured out the join them to further embarrass him with Bee and Mikaela with pictures of all their earliest Christmases. Somehow, Mojo even wore his best Santa outfit for the occasion.  
>Finally, when the last belly was stuffed, and the High Grade was mysteriously empty, Humans and Autobots alike all gathered around the tree for the presents..<p>

After much cajoling-and maybe eve a little blackmail with images from Barricade's first Creation Day-Mikaela had convinced Optimus to play Santa. He took it in stride, donning the giant red hat, and fake white beard with as much dignity as he did everything else.

It was perfect until the sirens blared. "Damn it, just like Baghdad," A few of the soldiers muttered. The Autobots grabbed their weapons. Decepticons were never the festive type.

Finally, Santa's voice rang out, "Autobots, Roll out!"


End file.
